Salvation
by Anatra Fiore
Summary: *latest chp.5* *revised chp.1 and chp.2* How can one find salvation if one can't let go of the past? Memories of killing her lover haunts Red even in another world. Can she ever let go of her past and finally let the hunter kill the werewolf within her? — AU :)
1. Chapter One - Nightmares

_Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon A Time—not even DVDs D':—but I love it to death! xP_

**_Chapter One - Nightmares_**

* * *

_"No!" she screamed. "Get away from him!"_

_Her voice echoed throughout the forest beneath the darkness of the night as her lover laid unconscious, chained to a tree as the huge wolf ran towards him. The snow fell like rain breaking the wolf's camouflage with the black sky of the night making it visible enough for her to know that the beast was getting closer and closer to her lover. She kept on throwing sticks and rocks hoping to distract it but it didn't even twitched an ear.  
_

_"Please I beg you!" she cried at the wolf._

_The wolf flinched as a stream of hot tears came running down her face and dripped down to her red cloak. Something made the wolf stop and turned to approach her slowly leaving the man below the tree. She trembled with fear and her knees lost it's strength bringing her down to the cold, cold snow unable to move a muscle. It's yellow eyes never left hers as it got closer and closer until the poor woman could feel it's warm breath on her face breathing slowly and heavily._

_"Don't do this." the woman pleaded as if the animal could understand what she was saying._

_Heavy breaths blew to her face as the beast blinked and pressed its head on her cold white cheeks. "_This is for our future._" it whispered to her mind while orally vocalizing a low rumble from its throat which she felt vibrating around her neck._

It's not_ she thought as she threw her frail body at the wolf but she was too late and fell to the ground. "Peter!" she screamed as the beast finally took away the only man she has ever loved with just one bite.  
_

_—_

Ruby woke up suffocated like she just emerged from the lake after a long struggle with a person that tried to drown her. _What was that all about_ she thought as she scrambled to her feet and tied her long black hair into a pony tail. Her body was aching to get back in the comforter and get some sleep done but even that wouldn't help her problem. For seven days straight she's been having the exact same dream over and over again and what ever she did, she never got to change the ending and the man never survived. It really bothered her and messed up her—already unstable—sleeping patern. She tried to ignore it and push it to the back of her mind as far as she could, but there was always a lingering feeling that wouldn't leave her, making her think constantly about the man in her dreams.

A sound from downstairs suddenly burst aloud from downstairs that called out to her. "Ruby! Wake up!" said her Granny.

"I'm already awake Granny!" replied Ruby as she slowly got to her feet and rose from the bed. "Be there in a second!"

This lady was never a morning person no matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise. There's just this feeling of great fatigue coursing through her body every time she would wake up in the morning unlike how lively she felt during the night. It was ten to five in the morning just as scheduled each and every day where then she would—reluctantly—take a brief seven to ten minutes of cold shower to fully wake her up from the sleep that she was deprived off and thirty for her hair and makeup—which wasn't really enough for her but will do for a day's work. Then came the boring part where they open at fifteen to six for the early birds that needed to start their works earlier than others and get their morning coffee.

* * *

_A/N: Yaay! My first Once Upon A Time fanfic! I seriously love Once Upon A Time! It's genius! Please tell me what you think? :D reviews :3  
_


	2. Chapter Two - Breakfast

_Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon A Time—not even DVDs D':—but I love it to death! xP_

_A/N: now that I read it, the first chapter wasn't that enticing at all :| hope this will get things going~ :)  
_

_**Chapter Two - Breakfast  
**_

* * *

The smell of fresh roasted beans filled the air as Ruby tipped over a glass coffee pot; pouring out black coffee for Mary Margaret who was sitting in the left middle booth alone. It's not a weird sight really for her. Everything was just as it has been ever since she could remember—whenever that was—although something did change. Mary Margaret has always sat in the exact same booth every morning alone to drink her coffee and eat an apple pie up until it was ten to eight and head out to Storybrooke Elementary for her work. But after Emma came along, things started to change little by little.

"Thanks Ruby." smiled Mary Margaret as she held her yellow cup in her hand added creme to her coffee that made it turn cream coloured.

"You're welcome." Ruby replied.

She and Mary Margaret are very good friends that she could always tell if something was up. It's a gift shared only by the greatest friends with each other. Ever since the guy in the hospital that Mary Margaret told her about finally gained consciousness, Mary Margaret then started acting differently. She knew that her dear friend was heartbroken but she could never understood why being heartbroken could ever affect someone that bad.

Ruby was about to leave but found her feet buried firmly on the ground reluctant to leave her friend. So finally she said "Is something bothering you? You look tense."

Mary Margaret was caught of guard by the question and flinched as she set her mug down the table in front of her. She sighed and turned to look at Ruby—giving her a look that Ruby knew meant she did the right thing on asking—with a grin in her lips and took Ruby's hand in hers. "Thank you for being concerned." she said. "Lately I've just been over-thinking stuff."

Ruby held Mary Margaret's hand tighter with both her hands and smiled back at her saying "Well, if you need anything I'm here for you."

"I know" was the only words that Mary Margaret could say to her friend for she did not want Ruby to neglect her job just because she was paying so much attention to her.

The front door bell rang as Emma and Graham entered the diner arguing along the way to Mary Margaret's booth. She won't lie, she knew that she thinks Sheriff Graham is one of the most attractive people there in Storybrooke and that his visits were actually one of the things that she has been waiting for everyday.

"Yes Emma. It looked straight at me." said Graham pointing at his eyes enthusiastically.

Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. An adult man talking to her about how animals were communicating to him inside his dreams. "And by looking at you, that means that it's trying to talk to you?"

"Yes!" he roared as he took the seat opposite Mary Margaret as Emma sat beside her them face to face with each other in a serious tense discussion.

"Hey guys." Greeted Mary Margaret and Ruby.

"Hey. So get this," Emma said in a he's-losing-it sort of way to Mary Margaret and Ruby "Graham has been having recurring dreams about this wolf that was trying to speak to him and he thinks that it's a sign."

"A sign of what?" Asked Mary Margaret.

Graham finally have had enough of Emma's mocking. How dare she, the new girl in town just casually making fun about the man who's not only in charge of the city but also her boss. He then finally scoffed "You know what, I don't care if you believe me or not. But that wolf is telling me something. Something important, about—" he hesitated on saying this. If he went on with the words, they would really consider him mentally ill, but he was to late. The word slipped out of his tongue like word vomit "me."

There was a long pause for a while. Tension was building up and yet nobody has said a word. Graham regretted ever telling Emma about his dream and frankly, Mary Margaret didn't really understand the issue. Ruby doesn't like situations like that. It has always made her feel like she was under attack even if it was totally somebody else's fault. She then finally left and got back bringing them two cups of coffee and gave it to Graham and Emma.

"Here, drink." she said with a smile to lighten up the mood as she handed the fragrant black coffee to Graham.

Graham smiled back for a brief moment then buried his face in his hands and grunted "With some apple pie please."

Ruby's plan seemed to work quite well which mad her feel happy and so she gladly took the order and headed for the counter where the apple pie was beautifully displayed within a glass cover on top of a desert rack.

"Make that two please Ruby." Emma chuckled.

"Coming right up!" she replied cheerfully.

* * *

_A/N: I swear I'm getting there ok?! xD hehehe :P_


	3. Chapter Three - Break of Dawn

_Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon A Time—not even DVDs D':—but I love it to death! xP_

_A/N: paragraphs written in italic__—__exempt for headers or footers__—are either visions, dreams, or flashbacks. you know, stuff outside Storybrook__—Fairy Tale World. :D and thanks to those who reviewed!_

_**Chapter Three - Break of Dawn**_

* * *

_Branches snapped, leaves fell, a man ran as fast as he could through the woods jumping along trees that have been cut down and rocks that were in his way. He didn't stop, not even just a second to catch his breath. It's like there was no stopping this man from getting to his destination._

_The scent of blood filled the forest as the light autumn breeze blew west. No doubt it was the blood of the deer he struck a few days ago. He had been waiting for it to weaken before pursuing it again. Trails of blood also helped him keep track of where the deer went making it easier for him to catch it when it's at its weakest._

_He went on a path going downhill towards a pond under a huge oak tree. Moon light filled the space with such elegant grace, hitting the water making it glow with radiance reflecting the full moon on its surface as it's softly moved by the emerging rays of dawn. And there, beside a rock by the bank rested the defenceless deer waiting for its inevitable doom as the huntsman slowly approached it._

_"Shh." he whispered to the poor thing that was trembling in fear. "I am sorry for what I'm going to do. But I need you to survive."_

_The deer breathed heavily but stopped its tremble understanding the purpose of the situation. The man then pulled out a sharp knife and cut the deer's throat to kill it swiftly—sparing it from a long agonising death._

_Tears filled the hunter's eyes as he felt the life of the deer leaving its body and turning it into an empty shell and whispered "Thank you. Your death will not be in vain."_

_A branch snapped behind him and alerted him to quickly look back and found himself locked eye to eye with a huge black wolf. He stayed still as the wolf came up to him slowly. There was no denying that he felt odd about this wolf. Some wolves wouldn't hesitate to charge towards him or the dead deer which stank of blood. No, this once approached him without those intensions whatsoever. It even looked ill as it walked unbalanced._

_As the wolf got closer he stretched out his arm to let it smell his hand—a sign of peace. The beast sniffed his fingers and grazed its head along his palm and arm until it finally lost its energy and fell in the man's arms. He quickly held it tight and sat on the ground supporting the wolf and laid it on his lap and the beast breathed gently with the raise of its chest and stayed still within the hunter's embrace._

_The sun finally came illuminating their surroundings with its glorious light. Dawn's always the most beautiful time of the day. The huntsman looked around him for any signs of danger. Apparently there weren't any except if the wolf woke up and decided to eat him. The thought of that made him chuckle and brought him to stroke the beast. It felt cold—_

_"Wolves aren't supposed to get cold." he whispered._

_He looked down at the beast in his arms and found that the beast was no longer there. But instead, replaced by a woman._

* * *

_A/N: a full chapter outside Storybrook! xD hahahaha~ :P so what do you think? :D reviews ;)_


	4. Chapter Four - Story World?

_Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon A Time—not even DVDs D':—but I love it to death! xP_

_A/N: Huge mega thanks to simplysteffv, Rayne91, and MissO9716 for following! xD_

_**Chapter Four - Story World?**  
_

* * *

"Hey Henry!" hollered Graham as he approached the playground.

Henry waved at him from the top of the fort. "Hey Sheriff!"

Graham made his way through the sand park dodging kids that were running around by the teeter-totter and ducking the monkey bars that were at his cheek's height. His black boots dug right into the sand with every step he took but it didn't affect him. He kept walking towards the fort where Henry was sitting and leaned on the pillar next to him.

"What've you got there?" asked Graham.

"It's a story book from Miss Blanchard." answered Henry enthusiastically. It was a large leather bound book; its pages decorated with soft embroidery along its frame, two columns in one page, and an illustration of a wolf in the other. "It's about Snow White and others. It's also about you."

"Me?" Graham chuckled as he shot Henry with a confused smile.

"Yes!" Henry said, and flipped ahead to the next few pages.

It showed an illustration of a man hunting in the woods fully equipped and with a bow and arrow in hand.

"You see this?" Henry pointed at the man and looked at Graham. "This is you."

"Oh, really?" teased Graham.

The hunter did have a few similarities with him, like the blond locks of hair, strong bone structure, even the same facial hair. But that might've been just a coincidence. Henry then began explaining.

"You're the huntsman that the Queen sent to kill Snow White. But good thing you didn't. Thanks!"

"You're welcome?" Graham answered.

Henry then continued "The huntsman has no family. He was found in the dark forest by a pack of wolves and people said that the wolves took him in and raised him as their own. Although nobody knew how he learned to communicate or understand human language, he just did."

Slowly Henry turned the pages again and went back to the wolf illustration. Hues of grey and white tinted its bushy fur as if it was covered in ash from its paws, up to its pointy ears. But the eyes were the ones that set it apart from the other wolves. One of its eyes were hazel, and the right one was blood red.

"This is the wolf that took you. She makes sure you're safe and that you never go astray. That's why she keeps on leading you to places; showing you the right path."

Graham held the other end of the book and drew it closer to him. There was something about that wolf that hit him. He knew that it would be ridiculous to believe that he came from a book, but there was something about this wolf that felt familiar. It was like he has seen this wolf before.

* * *

_A/N: any thoughts? i'm dying to hear it! xD reviews ;D_


	5. Chapter Five - The Lone Wolf

_Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon A Time—not even DVDs D':—but I love it to death! xP_

_A/N:I would like to send a bunch of thanks to goblinesque for being such a dear! x3 to simplysteffv, Kate, and the anon for the reviews :D and to Inash for following xD as many of you pointed out, yes it was too short~ so I revised chapter one and two—three and four to come :P—and wish to know how you like them now~ and also I hope that this new chapter will make up for it :P hehehe Cheers! xD_

**_Chapter Five - The Lone Wolf_**

* * *

Every night it was always the same routine with Graham. He left the station and headed to the bar where his companions were the type who drank their sorrow—much like him—dreading for tomorrow. He wasn't proud of his life and how it turned out to be but that's just how it was and he couldn't really bother trying to change it for he was too far gone. So just as usual, he took a seat by the bar and ordered a scotch. He didn't drink that much before, but it all started after his father died.

There was only one man in his life that he has ever called father and that was Alec Humbert. Alec was a single parent that took care of him after his mother passed away when he was just a toddler. When Alec was diagnosed with Huntington, Graham has just started his job as a rookie officer in Storybrooke so he decided to keep it a secret to himself and passed away a few months after Graham was promoted to Sheriff. Graham has always blamed himself for not knowing and not being able to spend more time with Alec as much. But what really hit him, was the confession Alec made in his death bed.

All his life he has loved that man. All his life he had thought of that man as his father. But things aren't always what they seem to be. After all those years, he found out that he was actually adopted and the—supposedly—pictures of him and—who's supposed to be—his mother were really Alec's wife and son but they both passed away in a car crash and he was the only one that survived. Just like how Graham's parents died. He never hated Alec for doing what he did. But the realization that he has no one else in the world who he could consider a family was too hard for him to handle and that's when he started drinking to numb the emotions.

The thought of being all alone was too hard for him to handle. He has always had this family orientation trait that has defined him as his true self. Just like a wolf with and its pack. One could live alone in solitary, but they could never feel more alive as they did when hunting in packs. He thought everything would change after he met Regina. He thought Regina could fill the gap in his heart. But alas, she wasn't enough.

He could never remember why he got involved with Regina, all he knew was that it all started when he was on duty as the deputy sheriff.

—

_On the way home after receiving a call from Ms. George who heard suspicious sounds in her backyard, he went pass the Toll bridge as a shortcut to get back to the station where he was needed next. Then there, just by the end of the bridge was The Mayor pulled up at the side of the road with the hood open._

_"Can I help you ma'am?"_

_She pulled her head out of the hood and wiped her brow with the back of her hand which left a black mark about an inch long. "Please, if you would." was her answer, pointing to the engine without even glancing at the man who was talking to her._

_Graham popped his head under and did a quick check on everything then turned to face Regina. "Well ma'am," he said "besides the ripped fan belt that you forced into a knot. I say there's nothing really wrong with your car." __He thought that Regina would flip by what he said and took it offensively. But to his __surprise, she smiled._

_"I know!" she chuckled. "I've been trying to tie it so that I could get the engine running again."_

_"Well you know that that's not going to really fix it right?" It was so adorable, how she though that tying it up would fix everything. He couldn't help but smile._

_She ran her fingers through her hair and said "At least enough to get me to the gas station to get it fixed."  
_

_"Come with me then." offered Graham while handing her a beige handkerchief._

—

The scotch in his hand stared at him as he lowered his heavy head and rested it on his upper arms. He started to feel tense and uneasy as he looked up to the clock in the shape of a black cat on the far left wall. It was almost time for him to leave. Ten o'clock just as she instructed the night before, and the other nights before that.

He drew the scotch closer to his lips and tilted the glass letting it all flow in his mouth, and with one gulp swallowed the whole thing. The bitter taste stuck on his tongue and left a burning sensation around his throat. A feeling he knew so well. After collecting all his energy to pull himself off the stool, Graham then stood up and pulled out his wallet from his jacket and left his payment under the empty glass and headed out the door.

* * *

_A/N: How do you like it so far? :D I've been really focused on Graham lately~ and I don't even know why :P but I just find it fun o write about him :D hihihihi~ sorry for the late chapter. I'm having tryouts for the national exam :P_


End file.
